The experts at National Geographic have pored over more than 18,000 entries and announced the winners of the 2014 National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest.
Marko Korošec of Sezana, Slovenia, took the winning picture – a dramatic storm cloud.
Enjoy this gallery of winning photos, comprised of the first-, second- and third-place and seven merit winners:
Grand Prize – The Independence Day
Marko Korošec: “While on storm chasing expeditions in the Tornado Alley in USA I have encountered many photogenic supercell storms.
“This photograph was taken while we were approaching the storm near Julesburg, Colorado on My 28th, 2013.
“The storm was tornado warned for more than one hour, but stayed an LP storm through all its cycles and never produced a tornado, just occasional brief funnels, large hail and some rain.”
Second Place – First Time
Agnieszka Traczewska: “Mea Shearim, ultra Orthodox district of Jerusalem. Newly married, Aaron and Rivkeh after the wedding ceremony are to stay together for the very first time, alone.
“Their marriage was arranged by families. 18 years old candidates confirmed the choice in result of the one meeting only. Since then until the wedding day they were prohibited to meet or even talk.”
Third Place – Diver in Magic Kingdom
Marc Henauer: “Green Lake (Grüner See) is located Tragöss Austria. In spring snowmelt raises the lake level about 10 meters.
“This phenomenon, which lasts only a few weeks covering the hiking trails, meadows, trees. The result is magical to watch diving landscapes.”
Merit – Foggy Small Town
Duowen Chen: “This photo was captured at noon, 25.12.2013, from the castle which is located on the edge of the small town and is the perfect viewpoint for the panorama of the almost intact historical town.
“The fog and mist suffused and gave the town a sense of mystery.”
Merit – End of the World
Sean Hacker Teper: “This photo, taken at the ‘end of the world’ swing in Banos, Ecuador, captures a man on the swing overlooking an erupting Mt. Tungurahua.
“The eruption took place on February 1st, 2014. Minutes after the photo was taken, we had to evacuate the area because of an incoming ash cloud.”
Merit – Ladies in Waiting
Susie Stern: “While exploring Borough Market in London, I was delighted to come across four lovely young women dressed in vintage white dresses, eating ice cream as the local shopkeeper looked on.
“Are they brides? Or bridesmaids. I don’t know, but they are obviously enjoying a very special day.”
Merit – A well earned rest in the Sahara
Evan Cole: “This photo, of Moussa Macher, our Touareg guide, was taken at the summit of Tin-Merzouga, the largest dune (or erg) in the Tadrat region of the Sahara desert in southern Algeria. Moussa rested while waiting for us to finish our 45-minute struggle to the top.
“It only took 10 minutes of rolling, running and jumping to get to get back down. The Tadrat is part of the Tassili N’Ajjer National Park World Heritage Area, famous for its red sand, and engravings and rock paintings of cattle, elephants, giraffes and rhinos that lived there when the climate was milder.”
Merit – Divine Makeover
Mahesh Balasubramanian: “Taken during “The Mayana Soora Thiruvizha” festival takes place every March in the small village of Kaveripattinam, the day after Mahashivarathiri (The great night of Shiva).
“The festival is devoted to Angalamman, a fierce guardian deity worshipped widely in Southern India.”
Merit – Khotso Peace at Devil’s Knuckles
Byron Inggs: “On arrival at Jonathan’s Lodge our horses took to celebrating liberation from their heavy burdens. With the backdrop of ‘The Devil’s Knuckles’ and the afternoons glow how could I not take advantage of these magnificent creatures rejoicing in the afternoons glow.
“This was the end of the first of a three day horse back ride through Bushman’s Nek, up the Drakensberg escarpment and into Lesothos’ Sehlabathebe National Park.”
10 Merit – LightSource
Marcelo Castro: “Young Monk finds a perfect light source to read his book inside of his pagoda – Old Bagan, Burma.”
